Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 163 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.40.

Amgen Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $277.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $274.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.35. The company has a market capitalization of $148.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. Amgen’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.06%.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.